Who can kiss Lily Evans First?

James didn't know how he got back to Hogwarts. All of a sudden, he found himself in front of the portrait. The fat lady was snoozing, a large bottle of eggnog in front of her. James cleared his throat.

"Wha? Oh yes, yes. Password?" she announced happily.

"Horse Tails," he said, almost lazily.

"Torse Hails that's it!" She swung open to reveal the common room, which had been elaborately decorated in honor of the holiday. Many people were exchanging gifts, even though it was so late in the day. He was disappointed to not see Lily among them. A sudden crash sounded from behind him, and he turned around to see an ash-faced Sirius. He was holding what looked like a firework.

"Backfired," he said, with a cough. "This should do it." He turned the firework right-side up and lit the end. James ducked just in time before sparks flew right at him. "So Jamsie-boy, where've ya been? You weren't at breakfast, then you didn't come to our little party we had planned, remember?"

"Oh shoot, Sirius, I completely forgot. I was out with a...a friend."

"Oooh! Tell me! I must know!" Sirius said, with the eagerness of a teenage girl.

"A friend, you know," he said, shrugging. He sat down with a sigh and buried his head in his knees.

"Something went wrong with this...ahh, friend, didn't it?" Sirius asked, leaning over and trying to hide a smirk on his face.

"Possibly. Ok, you could say that. She just ran away all of a sudden!" he said, thinking out loud.

"She?" Sirius asked slowly.

"Never mind."

"Aww, come on Jamie-boy! This couldn't have anything to do with...oh let's say a certain redheaded Gryffindor named Lily could it?" he said, trying hard not to laugh.

"No."

"Positive?"

"Yes!" he shouted.

"Jamie-boy. Either you're going daft, or you just can't lie very well." Sirius pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "I know how it all happened. You and Lily went into Hogsmeade and had a drink." Sirius gave him a genuine grin, amazed at his own guesswork. But the truth actually was, he had been spying on them in the common room when James had proposed the idea.

"We did no-," he started, but Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Save it for Remus, dude, I saw you two."

"You...you did?" James asked slowly.

"Well of course I did! Until you slid down the tunnel. C'mon. Tell me what happened!"

"Well...I bought her a drink, and I gave her a present, and she got up and left crying." James blurted the whole thing out so fast Sirius could barely make it out.

"She cried?" he said, screwing up his face, making him look more clueless than usual. "Jamie-boy, girls...you'll never be able to work them out. If someone ever tried to write a book about them, there wouldn't be enough paper in the world to finish it. Women just tend to be that way!"

"Excuse me?" a Gryffindor seventh year exclaimed.

"Did I mention how unbelievably beautiful they are?" he said, rising to his feet and straightening his leather jacket. The seventh year rolled her eyes and resumed her conversation.

"You see? If someone dissed the male species, we wouldn't through a fit over it, would we?"

"Err...no not really." James sighed. "It's all so confusing...this love thing..." He stopped suddenly and looked as though he were about to die.

"Love?" Sirius repeated slowly.

"You know what? I'd love to chat but I gotta go." James abruptly stood up and exited the common room. Sirius snatched a pitcher of Butterbeer and took a deep swig of it.

"This plan thing is working out better than I thought!" he said, propping his feet up on the table.

James quickly ran outside of Hogwarts, heading for the lake. He slapped himself mentally for talking out loud to himself in front of Sirius. He angrily kicked a rock into the lake. It bounced off of the water a few times before sinking to the bottom. He sat down on a large boulder next to the bank. James sighed and ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. He quickly took off his glasses and buried his head in his knees. Suddenly, he looked up. He couldn't see much, but he saw a figure out across the lake on the other side. He slowly slipped his glasses back on and took another look. Lily Evans was sitting on a small rock that was extending out over the lake. She dipped her feet in the water and closed her eyes. James slowly stood up and walked around the lake. He finally reached her, and he snuck up behind her. He then grabbed her around the waist. She shrieked, and they both went tumbling into the water.

"WHO DID THAT?" she angrily yelled. Then she spotted James, casually floating in the water. "James?" she asked uncertainly. He didn't answer. "James?" she asked again. She slowly swam over to him and poked him in the ribs. "JAMES!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. He opened his eyes.

"Hey Lily!" he said happily, as if one had just met a friend in the hall.

"What did you do that for?" she cried out, and if she'd been out of the water, her hands would have been on her hips.

"Just a little joke," he said.

"Well," she started. "Still! It wasn't very funny!" Her normally red hair was a dark rusty brown.

"You look totally different when you're wet," he said stupidly.

"Is that a compliment?" she asked uncertainly.

"Possibly," he said, giving her a teasing smile. She splashed water in his direction. "Hey!" he exclaimed. He gave her a big splash, which nearly drowned her. She sputtered, coming up for air.

"What was that for?" she asked again.

"You splashed me," he stated simply.

"You provoked me!" she exclaimed. James finally stopped floating and he swam over to her.

"So?" he asked quietly, his face inches from hers. "Lily why did you run away earlier?"

"I need time to think, that's all," she said, her face growing red. "I dunno. I guess it startled me at how different you were acting all of a sudden. It also startled me at how gentleman like you could be." She averted her gaze and bit her lip nervously. "I really did have a good time though, honestly."

"I thought you were angry at me..." Now it was his turn to grow red.

"Why would I be angry at you?" she said, smiling. "It was so fun! I mean, we had a great cup of Butterbeer, I got a wonderful gift, and it was beautiful outside...even if it is snowing." She suddenly shivered. "I didn't realize how could this water was until now."

"Well what do you expect, it's nearly below zero out here." He swam to the bank and helped Lily out of the water. She shivered again.

"Good grief it's cold, we should get inside." She quickly grabbed her books and started walking to the school. James quickly caught up.

"So you're not angry at me? You actually had fun today? You don't think I'm an idiot?" he started.

"James, I'm not angry, I did have fun, and whoever said you were an idiot?" She opened the doors and stepped inside, shaking her hair out. They started to walk again when they heard a small scuffling of feet. James spun around, looking for the source of the noise. He saw a large plant that he had never noticed before in the Entrance Hall, but he thought nothing of it. When he started to walk again, the noise got louder. He turned around to see that the plant had moved five feet from it's original hiding place. James walked over and picked up the plant, shaking it out. Peter fell to the floor.

"Peter?" James asked.

"Er...hi James! I was just going to talk to you!" he lied.

"You weren't spying on us were you?" James asked suspiciously.

"Oh no! I was no where near the lake!" Peter suddenly clasped a hand over his mouth.

"How'd you know we were at the lake..." James started.

"A reliable source..." muttered Peter. James picked him up by the collar.

"Peter," he began slowly. But just then, Remus came flying around the corner, looking rushed.

"Peter!" he cried out. "There you are! Where's the plant you were going to bring me?" Remus asked, slightly out of breath.

"It's right here!" Peter said, dragging it over. Remus picked it up delightedly.

"Excellent work Peter!" he said, examining the plant. "I think I'm going to need your assistance on something. Come on!" Remus led Peter into another corridor and they were gone.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked.

"Dunno. But I have a weird feeling about it." He returned to his normal pace with Lily.

"Lily?"

"What James?!" She spun around, looking slightly annoyed.

"Erm...well, I was wondering...are you currently...you know...I mean, do you fancy anyone at the moment?" He looked like he wished he hadn't asked.

"Not at the moment, why?" she asked, her voice tone suspicious.

"Just wondering!" he said with a big grin. "Hey, I gotta be somewhere, so I'll catch you up later!" He sped off down the corridor and ran up the stairs.

"Peter! Are you daft? We said not to get too close!" Sirius said angrily. Peter flinched.

"I'm sorry guys, but I couldn't hear what they were saying!"

"Well, that's why there's a Amplifying charm!" Remus explained.

"An amplifying charm?" Sirius and Peter asked at the same time.

"It enables the witch or wizard to hear things from a great distance," he explained again.

"Oh. Cool! Can you teach it to me?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"You'll use it for unnecessary things, such as hearing a private conversation between Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore!" Remus said, folding his arms, and assuming a know-it-all air.

"Aww! No I won't!" Sirius pleaded. But Remus just shook his head.

"You're no fun," he muttered. Peter had taken the opportunity to sneak away but Sirius caught him by his collar.

"Hey!" he squeaked, squirming around.

"Listen rat boy. If you're gonna be a part of this, we've gotta be more careful! Don't go blowing our plans up!" Sirius growled. Peter whimpered.

"Sirius, violence is an unnecessary thing!" Remus said.

"Fine, fine." He dropped Peter and the boy shakily stood up.

"I promise I'll be more careful."

"Swear?"

"Err..yeah."

"Swear to the life of Remus?" Sirius said, a sly grin on his face.

"I'll try!"

"Excellent! Now, tomorrow's a full moon right Remus?" Sirius asked. Remus shivered.

"Yes. Sadly, it is."

"Well, I have a little plan..." Sirius said.